Anayat House groundbreaking ceremony

The Anayat House celebrated a groundbreaking at 10 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 29, for it’s new facility at 1025 14th St. in Beaumont. Anayat House staff, board members and the community gathered together to memorialize the event.

The mission of the Anayat House is to provide affordable accommodations in a safe and restful family setting to outpatients or to friends and family members of patients using local medical facilities. With six bedrooms and private baths, a dining room, kitchen, library, computer station, volunteer room, laundry room, offices and gardens, the new facility, while modern, will still maintain a warm, comfortable and restful atmosphere. Nestled beneath shady oak trees on Christus St. Elizabeth property, this new facility will truly be at the heart of the medical community, working hand in hand with patients and families who need a place to rest their heads and lighten their burdens.

Anayat House board member and architect Sina Nejad said the new facility is close to 6,000 square feet, and all rooms are accessible to disabled persons.

“We want it to look like a home away from home,” Nejad said.

The new Anayat House is expected to be completed in midsummer 2013.

Anayat House board president Hubert Oxford IV made the opening remarks at the groundbreaking ceremony. Oxford thanked those in attendance at the ceremony and introduced Sister Celeste Trahan, who led the group in prayer. After the blessing, Oxford introduced Anayat House founder Mimi Daniali, who addressed the crowd.

“I told myself, ‘Mimi, don’t cry,’” Daniali said tearfully. “I am just so overwhelmed seeing everyone I love here. I appreciate all of you from the bottom of my heart. This house has a heart. It couldn’t have happened without your passion.”

Daniali said the Anayat House was a dream of hers that started about 18 years ago. She thanked donors for contributions to the house. The Meadows Foundation, Mamie McFaddin-Ward Heritage Foundation, Penland Foundation, Wilton and Effie Mae Hebert Foundation, Becki and Ed Stedman III Foundation, DuJay Charitable Foundation, Zummo Meat Co., Crenshaw Family, Giglio Family and Mimi Daniali all donated to Anayat House to make the new facility possible.

While we harbor no disrespect for the Wall Street Journal who called us “that scrappy little paper from Southeast Texas,” we prefer to think of ourselves as simple seekers of the truth. We’re of the opinion that headlines and sound bites never tell the whole story. Our readers demand all the facts, facets and flavors of every story or event. And, they expect to be informed, educated and stirred to action.